Purim costumes conceal superficial differences

Purim is such a great holiday. Children and adults alike love to celebrate Purim, with the exciting and unusual mitzvot and customs of the day. Dressing up, eating hamantaschen, twirling the grogger at Haman's name in the Megillah and giving mishloach manot - food gifts to friends. These are the reasons why the young of age and the young at heart look forward to Purim each year.

Did you ever stop to think what the Purim mitzvot and customs have in common? Let's take off the masks, open up the mishloach manot, look inside the Megillah - and see the common denominator intrinsic to all of them.

When someone is dressed up in a costume or mask, his identity is concealed. Rich or poor, smart or average, pretty or homely, we no longer perceive the physical, economic or intellectual differences that often separate us. Yes, one costume is expensive, another more original, and there are hundreds of Queen Esthers. But it's obvious that these are just externals. They aren't the person inside the costume. On a very basic level, when we dress up on Purim our superficial differences are, for the moment, concealed.

The Megillah, that exciting story recounting the triumph of right over might, good over evil and the Jews' faith in God over the vile schemes of Haman, is also a lesson in Jewish equality and unity. It was only once the Jews united that they were saved from Haman's plan of total annihilation.

Men, women and children, scholars and shoe cobblers, peasants and the queen, all fasted and prayed as one for three days and nights to avert the evil decree. And because they united, because each one felt equally responsible and able to effect a change, their prayers and penitence were accepted.

Now, on to those delicious hamantaschen of varying fillings and recipes. Some say they are meant to remind us of Haman's hat or his ears. But they are also symbolic of that which is hidden within. God's hand, so to speak, was hidden during the whole Purim episode - the incidents that led up to Esther being crowned queen, Mordechai overhearing the palace guards' plot to kill Ahasuerus, etc., seemed quite natural. But they were - like everything in life - divine providence, God's way of putting together an intricate puzzle.

Just as the filling is concealed in the hamantaschen and the divine was hidden during the Purim epoch of Jewish history, the divine within each one of us is hidden - often to others and even to ourselves. The divine within us is our soul - the actual part of God that gives us life. And though it is intangible, though its existence is often concealed, the soul is the great equalizer of all of us. For, though one Jew might do more mitzvot than another, or have a more comprehensive Jewish education, or be kinder, the essence of our souls and their source are the same - an actual part of God.

Lastly, we have the mishloach manot, those delightful packages of goodies. They range from a sandwich bag with raisins, cookies and a drink to a wicker basket filled with wine and elegant treats. There are numerous differences in packaging, price and products, but, once again, they all have one thing in common: they foster unity. Unity not just because we feel good when we give and when we receive, but also because we customarily give the mishloach manot through a messenger - we involve another person in the mitzvah. When giving the mishloach manot, we connect not only with the person to whom we are giving, but to a third person as well. And the messenger can be anyone - young or old, friend or stranger, male or female.

This year, let us unite through the performance of the mitzvot of Purim, and may we merit the final redemption speedily in our days.

Rabbi Yossi Levertov is the director of Chabad of Scottsdale and the Scottsdale affiliate of the Jewish Learning Institute.

Home